Ways of Knowing

An audio show about the humanities

Season 4: The Imaginary

Could a person who has only ever seen the world in black in white accurately conceive of what it might be like to perceive color? How does the Hamlet in your head compare to the one in Shakespeare’s mind? Is there any role for art in Utopia, or does a world free from conflict, competition, and hardship stamp it out? How are competing interpretations of the US Constitution threatening the union? The answers lie in how we use our imaginations. This four-part audio series on the imaginary is produced in partnership with the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies and the Salvatori Center at Claremont McKenna College.

Episode 1: The Poetry of Perception

Media are increasingly monopolizing attention: Your mind is prevented from wandering, from generating thoughts, having associations, coming up with ideas. Over time, this dulls the creative faculties and weakens the power of imagination, which is essential for the creation of art…as well as for a clear perception of reality. Episode guest is Radhika Koul, professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College.

Episode 2: The Knowledge Argument

If a person spends their entire life seeing only in black and white, is it possible for them to truly know what it would be like to experience color? Philosophers have debated this for decades, but one thing they have often overlooked is the power of the imagination. It is a skill, and like any other skill it can be honed, perhaps enough to allow one to achieve deep knowledge of an experience they’ve never had. Episode guest is Amy Kind, professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College.

Episode 3: Utopia

Given the option to plug into a world totally free from conflict and struggle, most would choose to remain in their current reality. A true utopia would be too boring, stifling—with no problems to solve, there would be no outlet for creativity, for the imagination. Episode guest is John Farrell, professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College.

Episode 4: Imagining the Constitution

While the US Constitution is constantly invoked to justify how the country should be governed, it actually provides very few specifics on how that should be done. Instead, the designed ambiguities of the document require the imaginative powers of its citizenry to interpret it and decide which laws should be implemented and how they should be enforced. Episode guest is George Thomas, professor of American Political Institutions at Claremont McKenna College.